Hair gripping device

ABSTRACT

A hair gripping device for holding the hair of the head while backcombing the hair. A form fitting hand covering is provided which includes a body portion sized and shaped to cover primarily only the hand knuckles of the thumb and forefingers, and a thumb sheath and a forefinger sheath are connected to the body portion. The remaining portion of the hand is left uncovered, and the thumb and forefinger are used to grasp and grip the hair of the head during the backcombing procedure while the remaining hand area is uncovered and unencumbered so that it retains its sense of feel.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Beverly C. Ensign 4971 Powerferry Road, Atlanta, Ga. 30327 [211 App]. No 782,397 [22] Filed Dec. 9, 1968 [45] Patented Sept. 28, 1971 [54] HAIR GRIPPING DEVICE 3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 132/9 [51] Int. Cl A45d 2/06 [50] Field of Search 132/9, 48, 37, 33.7; 128/321, 354, 322; 81/43; 32/63; 15/160; 24/259 HC, 255 BC [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 966,325 8/1910 Gilbert 132/48 R X 1,905,399 4/1933 \Vagner..... 15/160 Des.l57,104 l/l950 Tuttleetal.

795,013 7/1905 Weiler 128/354 1,829,826 11/1931 Gaire u l32/33.7 2,645,013 7/1953 Mathison..... 32/63 966,325 8/1910 Gilbert,...1,.....1 132/48 RX Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner-Gregory E. McNeill Altorney-J ones & Thomas ABSTRACT: A hair gripping device for holding the hair of the head while backcombing the hair. A form fitting hand covering is provided which includes a body portion sized and shaped to cover primarily only the hand knuckles of the thumb and forefingers, and a thumb sheath and a forefinger sheath are connected to the body portion. The remaining portion of the hand is left uncovered, and the thumb and forefinger are used to grasp and grip the hair of the head during the backcombing procedure while the remaining hand area is uncovered and unencumbered so that it retains its sense of feel.

mtmsnsrrz 3.608.565

Beverly C. Ensign avaaahufm ATTORNEYS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION When teasing or backcombing the hair of a lady's head, a lock of hair is grasped by the ends of the hairs and extended away from the head by one hand, and a comb is repeatedly passed through the lock of hair in a direction toward the scalp to backcomb some of the hairs. This teasing or backcombing procedure functions to gather and tangle or mat'some of the hair adjacent the scalp, while some of the hair is left untangled and is combed over the surface of the tangled hair. The tangled hair tends to support the untangled hair a distance spaced away from the scalp to create a bouffant effect, so that the hair of the head appears as a massive volume of hair.

When teasing or backcombing the hair, it is desirable to mat the hair fairly tightly adjacent to the scalp so that the matted hair forms a firm base for the outer hair. In order to tightly mat or tangle the backcombed hair, the locks of hair must be grasped very tightly with one hand while the comb is firmly forced through the lock of hair. When the lock of hairis held very tightly, the backcombing stroke carries fewer individual hairs toward the scalp on each stroke, and the matting or tangling of the hair is accomplished more effectively. Of course, when a lady is grooming her own hair, the hand grasping the locks of hair must reach to all surfaces of the head during the grooming procedure, and it is usually difiicult to grasp the-hair with the proper gripping force necessary at all positions about the head. Furthermore, when a professional beautician is required to tease or backcomb hair several times during a single day, the hand used to grasp the hair becomes fatigued. In both instances, when the fingers of the hand are clasped together with the force necessary to properly grasp the hair, there is a tendency to pull the hair away from the scalp, which is uncomfortable to the person whose hair is being groomed. If the hair could be grasped with a lighter force, there would be less tendency to pull the hair away from the scalp.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly described, the present invention comprises a hair gripping device which enables a person to firmly grasp and hold a lock of hair with a minimum of effort and attention without tending to pull the hair from the grip. The hand which grasps the hair is provided with a pair of resilient surfaces which clamp together to grip the hair. The resilient surfaces comprise a rubberized glove which covers primarily only the thumb and forefinger of the gripping hand, or comprise a pair of support bars with rubberized pads thereon with the bars being connected together by means of a spring which normally urges the bars apart.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide a hair gripping device which enables a person to grasp and hold a lock of hair with a minimum of effort and attention.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hand cover for use in grasping hair, which covers primarily only the thumb and forefinger of the hand, and which can be put on or taken off the hand with a minimum of effort and with maximum convenience.

Another object of this invention is to provide an instrument which is convenient to use, inexpensive to manufacture, andwhich enables'a person to grasp locks of hair with a minimum of effort and attention.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon reading the following specification, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a back view of the hair teasing glove.

FIG. 2 is a palm view of the-hair teasing glove.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of a modified form of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a top view of the invention shown in FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now in more detail to the drawing, in which like numerals indicate like parts throughout the several views, FIG. 1 shows a human hand 10 with its fingers spread apart. A hand covering or glove 11 is shown placed on the hand. Glove 11 comprises body portion 12, thumb sheath l4, and forefinger sheath l5. Thumb and forefinger sheaths 14 and 15 are connected at their open lower ends to body portion 12 to form a unitary structure, and the arrangement is generally in conformance with the natural shape of the hand and is form fitting. The material from which glove 11 should be fabricated is rubber, or a similar tough resilient material which is suitable for grasping and holding hair.

The periphery 16 of body portion 12 includes enlarged seam 18 which functions to reinforce the edge of the glove,

thumb of the hand. Body portion 12 generally covers the hand.

knuckles of the thumb and forefinger, which inhibits any tendency of the glove to slide or slip on the hand as the hand is worked, yet the coverage of body portion 12 of the hand is gauged so that substantially the entire palm and back surface of the hand and the three remaining fingers of the hand are left uncovered and are free to .work without any covering, and are able to feel the sense of touch.

When glove 11 is utilized to grasp a locks of hair, the forefinger 15 is usually slightlybent or curled, and thumb 14 is pressed against the curved portion of the forefinger, with the hair being grasped between the fingers in this area. The resilient or rubberized surface of the glove is such that the hairs of a lock of hair would be firmly grasped with a minimum of gripping force from the hand. The remaining uncovered fingers of the hand are left free and uncovered and sensitive to the sense of feel. The uncovered fingers can be manipulated to assist in the grooming function, as when the hand covered by glove 11 is used to pick up or grip an object or instrument or to help hold the hair between the covered fingers. The uncovered fingers can be used to feel the amount of hair remaining in a lock of hair when a person is backcombing her hair at a position behind her head and cannot easily view this area. Thus, the uncovered portion of the hand allows the person to retain a substantial amount of the sense of feel in the hand, yet also the person is able to more easily grip the hair.

As is shown is FIGS. 3 and 4, an alternate form of the invention is disclosed which comprises a hair gripping device 20 and includes a pair of support bars 21 and 22 connected together at their ends by means of leaf spring 24. Leaf spring 24 is generally U-shaped and its ends are connected to the ends of support bars 21. Rubberized pads 25 and 26 are connected to support bars 21 and 22 at positions so that when support bars 21 and 22 are pressed together, pads 25 and 26 will come into contact with each other.

As is shown in FIG. 4, finger tabs 28 and 29 are connected to support bars 21 and 22, respectively. Finger tabs 28 and 29 project out to one side of hair gripping device 20, and can be conveniently utilized to press support bars 21 and 22 together. The thumb and forefinger of a hand can be placed adjacent to finger tabs 28 and 29 to urge support bars 21 and 22 toward each other, against the bias ofleaf spring 24.

When in normal use, a lock of hair 30 will be suspended away from the head, and support bars 21 and 22 will be positioned on opposite sides of the lock of hair and pressed together with the thumb and forefinger of a hand. When pads 25 and 26 engage the lock of hair, the hair will be firmly gripped and the hair can be backcombed or teased by the use of a comb manipulated in the other hand. Spring 24 is of sufficient resilience so that when it is desired to release the lock of hair, the hand can be relaxed and support bars 21 and 22 will part a distance sufficient to release the hair but the resilience of leaf spring 24 is such that the fingers of the hand will be able to grasp finger tabs 28 and 29 with enough force to hold onto hair gripping device 20.

While this invention has been described in detail with particular reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that variations and modifications can be effected within the spirit and scope of the invention as described hereinbefore and as defined in the appended claims.

1. Apparatus for temporarily gripping and holding human hair or the form while backcombing or block treating the hair comprising an elongated generally U-shaped leaf spring, a support bar connected to said leaf spring at each end of said leaf spring to form a generally V-shaped clamp member when said leaf spring is in its unflexed condition, an elongated hair gripping surface formed on the facing surfaces of each of said support bars, said hair gripping surfaces being shaped and positioned so as to be movable into engagement with each other along at least a major portion of their respective lengths 2. Apparatus for temporarily gripping and holding human hair or the like while backcombing or otherwise treating the hair comprising an elongated generally V-shaped clamp including a resilient generally U-shaped curved bend and outwardly diverging support bias said support bias including facing elongated hair gripping surfaces movable upon the flexing of said curved bend into abutting relationship with each other along at least a major portion of their respective lengths, said support bias including a finger receiving tab positioned intermediate the ends of said support bias and extending in a lateral direction to one side of said V-shaped clamp for urging said elongated hair gripping surfaces of said clamp toward each other.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 and wherein the facing elongated hair gripping surfaces of said support bias comprise substantially flat rubberized pads.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 565 Dated November 9 1971 Inventor(s) Beverly lgn It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Claim 1, line 2 (column 3, line 9) the word "form" should read -like, and the word "block" should read otherwise;

Claim 1, last line (column 3, line 17) add after "lengths" when the support bars of said V-shaped clamp member are urged together, and a finger tab connected to each support bar, said finger tabs being positioned intermediate the ends of the support bars and extending in a lateral direction to one side of the V-shaped clamp member..

Signed and sealed this 28th day of March 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents FORM PO-1050 (10- 91 USCOMM-DC B0376-P69 U 5 GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: I989 O3i6*3.!l 

1. Apparatus for temporarily gripping and holding human hair or the like while backcombing or otherwise treating the hair comprising an elongated generally U-shaped leaf spring, a support bar connected to said leaf spring at each end of said leaf spring to form a generally V-shaped clamp member when said leaf spring is in its unflexed condition, an elongated hair gripping surface formed on the facing surfaces of each of said support bars, said hair gripping surfaces being shaped and positioned so as to be movable into engagement with each other along at least a major portion of their respective lengths
 2. Apparatus for temporarily gripping and holding human hair or the like while backcombing or otherwise treating the hair comprising an elongated generally V-shaped clamp including a resilient generally U-shaped curved bend and outwardly diverging support bias, said support bias including facing elongated hair gripping surfaces movable upon the flexing of said curved bend into abutting relationship with each other along at least a major portion of their respective lengths, said support bias each including a finger receiving tab positioned intermediate the ends of said support bias and extending in a lateral direction to one side of said V-shaped clamp for urging said elongated hair gripping surfaces of said clamp toward each other.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 and wherein the facing elongated hair gripping surfaces of said support bias comprise substantially flat rubberized pads. 